EPFL BioEngineering Talks

Weekly BioEngineering Talks (Lunch Provided)

INVITED SPEAKER:

AI-guided Protein Design for Biomedical Applications
Prof. Thomas Schlichthärle, Technical University of Munich
Host: Prof. Florian Schueder

Abstract:
Recent advances in AI-guided protein design enable the generation of novel receptor binders with high experimental success rates. We have applied this approach to design new-to-nature FGFR isoform-specific agonists that direct stem cell fate toward arterial over venous identity, and TrkA agonists that retain neurotrophic activity while reducing nociceptive signaling commonly observed in the natural binding partner NGF. These studies demonstrate that signaling bias can be encoded directly into the molecular architecture of de novo designed agonists, and we propose that integrating such growth factor mimetics into stem-cell differentiation workflows will unlock new opportunities in regenerative medicine and disease modeling.

Bio:
Thomas Schlichthärle is a German scientist specializing in AI-guided protein design, synthetic biology, and cellular signaling.
He studied Molecular Medicine at the University of Tübingen and Molecular Bioengineering at TU Dresden. Following research at Harvard's Wyss Institute, he completed his PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich, working on super-resolution microscopy and computational analysis.
He subsequently spent nearly five years as a postdoctoral researcher in David Baker's laboratory at the University of Washington, developing computationally designed synthetic growth factors.
In June 2025, he joined TUM as a tenure-track assistant professor. His laboratory uses deep learning and generative AI to engineer proteins that control signaling pathways, cellular differentiation, and therapeutic responses.

STUDENT SPEAKER:

High-throughput sequence-function mapping for transcription factor-based biosensors
Ricardo Javier Farrera Muro, Jeschek Lab


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BioEngineering Talks mandatory EDBB Seminar Attendance (1st-Year PhD Students)

•  Attendance sheet to print HERE 

• Register HERE
• Attendance sheet to print HERE